Taiwanese authorities said Wednesday that China seized one of its fishing boats this week under a new protocol that allows the Chinese coast guard to seize vessels operating under its maritime borders.
The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said China has stepped up its patrols since a regulation came into force in June authorizing it to seize ships for up to 60 days in waters considered by Beijing to be under its control.
In response, CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-Chin said at a press conference on Wednesday that he would step up patrols to protect ships, according to Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency.
Hsieh also called for the release of the detained fishing boat, Da Jin Man No. 88.
Chinese Coast Guard personnel seized the fishing boat near Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands on Tuesday night, detaining two Taiwanese and three Indonesian nationals.
Taiwan’s CGA says it sent ships to rescue the fishing vessel, but was forced to retreat when China sent reinforcements.
The fishing boat operated in China’s territorial waters near the city of Jinjiang, but Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency said it was common ground for fishing and there was a general agreement that it would be used together, according to the Central Agency. of News.
The incident comes amid growing tensions between Taiwan and China following the inauguration of Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has labeled a separatist.
After Lai took office, China launched major military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing considers its own territory.
Chinese aircraft routinely threaten Taiwan’s airspace and force the island nation to deploy its own jets. Chinese boats also continue to harass Taipei on its maritime borders.
China claims much of the South China Sea as its own, despite an international arbitration order that rejected those lines.
The dispute in the South China Sea has led to rising tensions in recent years with neighboring nations, including the Philippines, which defended itself from a Chinese attack last month. Chinese personnel armed with machetes boarded a Philippine ship and attacked the Filipino sailors.
The clash occurred as the Philippines attempted to reinforce a ship stranded on Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
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